The making of a wildlife paradise
The world’s most remote inhabited island Tristan da Cunha, a British Overseas Territory, has just been granted landmark protection, making it one of the planet’s largest conservation sanctuaries
Far from civilisation, at the very edge of the earth in the South Atlantic lies the island of Tristan da Cunha.
It is home to just 254 people and millions of species of wildlife. Here, there is no wi-fi, no cafés and no airport – the only way to get here is a bumpy seven-day sail from Cape Town. But what it lacks in modern amenities, this small chain of islands that is part of British Overseas Territory, more than makes up for in abundant and truly spectacular nature.
Wildlife is everywhere. Tens of millions of seabirds squawk and circle like a cloud of smoke across the island’s iconic volcano, while in the waters below, endangered sharks breed and mysterious beaked whales – barely ever seen in other parts of the world – feed. On the beaches, 80 per cent of the world’s population of sub-Antarctic fur seals jostle for a sun-bathing spot alongside 90 per cent of the planet’s northern rockhopper penguins.
The place is a veritable Eden for wildlife and now this wonderland of nature is going to be protected for the future, thanks to a landmark conservation decision. After decades of work, Tristan da Cunha has just been declared a fully protected marine zone. This means an area of water around Tristan that is almost three times the size of the UK is now a ‘no-take’ area where all bottom-trawling fishing, deepsea mining and other harmful activities are banned.
The island is now one of the planet’s largest sanctuaries for life, above and below water, as well as helping the UK government in its promise to secure protection for 30 per cent of the world’s oceans by 2030.
Jonathan Hall from the RSPB, which is one of the partners that helped secure this marine protected zone, says the impact of this decision will be huge and far-reaching: “This will be felt throughout the whole of the Atlantic as Tristan serves as such a breeding hotspot for species that come from all across the ocean,” he says.
For example, the Great Shearwater is a seabird that generally will only breed on Tristan da Cunha – more than five million pairs nest on the island – but these are birds that may also be seen in summer thousands of miles away in Cornwall and Ireland. Then there are the sharks which go all over the South Atlantic to breed and pup and albatrosses that spread out to South America and Southern Africa.
With news that the UN estimates 90 per cent of global fish stocks are either fully exploited or totally depleted, protecting Tristan’s waters also means populations of species at high risk of extinction have at least one safe haven.
“Blue sharks are the most heavily fished shark on the planet, targeted for their fins, but in Tristan we found there is a blue shark nursery so by protecting this area
we may see increases in their numbers, while in other species we hope to just protect their incredible abundance in this area,” says Jonathan.
While a major announcement, the achievement of the marine protected zone follows on from decades of hard work of the residents of Tristan to sustain their little slice of paradise. “This is a community on the edge of the world, but they have always had this incredible collective and long-sighted approach to the island because they want to make it a viable place for their grandchildren to live in many years to come,” says Jonathan. In fact, as early as the Seventies, Tristan da Cunha had already protected 50 per cent of its terrestrial land while its commercial lobster fishery, which makes up most
‘The islanders want to make Tristan a viable place for their grandchildren to live’
of the island’s income, is certified as completely sustainable.
“The remoteness of their community has translated into this environmental stewardship, so it’s to the credit of the Tristan people to now have this amazing achievement of such protection,” says Jonathan.
In fact, as the announcement brings more scientists and researchers to the island to better monitor and understand this utopia, it’s hoped they’ll uncover even more of Tristan’s wonders as well as inspiring other island states to do similar work.
“Tristan da Cunha is hands down the most incredible place I’ve ever been in my life,” says Jonathan. “The life on the beaches, the noise in the skies and this sense of primordial innocence with just vast quantities of life; it’s very special and I hope this will now lead to similarly incredible areas being protected too.”
■ If you would like to support the RSPB’s work with Tristan da Cunha as well as its ongoing mission to save seabirds globally,